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——

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.*･｡. WAITING FOR SUPERMAN .*･｡.
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029.
SNAKE STOLEN.
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——

   Thinking about it — Lois had no idea how neither her father or Noah Stilinski hadn't noticed that she and Stiles hadn't returned home that night, nor had they gone to school the next day. In fact, she was quite impressed with their skills of going undetected, even if they had been sneaking out since they were eleven. It was talent.

They and Scott had camped out in Beacon Hills preserve inside of the police retaining van that they had stolen, the trio cramped up in the front seats while Jackson had been put in the back, both unconscious and chained to the floor with handcuffs. Lois had woken up half way upon Scott's lap and half way upon Stiles', and with the lacrosse captain angrily screaming and shouting to be set free. They were going to be in a lot of trouble when they let him out, and chances were he was going to pummel all of them to the ground or maybe even paralyse them for life — but on the plus side, now they knew that the handcuffs had held him in place over night. He hadn't been able to kill anyone else, yet.

    "How long do you think we can keep him in there?" Lois rose a brow at the two boys, Scott tying up his sneakers to get ready to go to school and then visit Danny.

He shrugged, "Until someone realises he's missing."

"Which won't be for a while," Stiles added, smirking as he typed away and waved Jackson's phone through the air like a victory. "As far as his parents are concerned, he spent the night at a friend's house and won't be back until later — after practice."

Lois nodded her head slowly, pretty impressed by his thinking and raised her hand for a high five, to which he reciprocated with a grin on his face. It seemed that all the teenagers ever did lately was something devious; something that they had to keep out of the laws sight and hidden behind closed doors. While it was a lot to deal with, and incredibly dangerous, sometimes it was actually kind of fun to hide from the law.

   At least, it was fun for Stiles and Lois.

With a chuckle, Scott rolled his eyes at his friends and checked the time on his own phone, "I have to go,"

"Send my love to Danny?" She asked sweetly.

"Of course," he nodded his head, then glanced between the cunning pair that he had known for so long, "I'll be back as soon as I can. You guys sure you have this under control?"

"Scott, we'll be fine!" Stiles assured him, "We've got this."

Lois smiled widely in agreement, the two stood in front of him with expressions so sweet that butter wouldn't melt. They may have just been humans, but that didn't mean that they couldn't handle Jackson Whittemore. Maybe it would be harder if he turned into the kanima, but that's what the handcuffs and chains were for, right?

While he was Jackson, Lois and Stiles had this. They had been dealing with the lacrosse captain for most of their lives.

It would be easy.

"Alright—" the teen wolf sighed, starting to walk away but he quickly turning back, "But if you have any problems, or if he tries to kill you— or even if he just becomes too much of an asshole, and bugs you, just make sure you call me. Okay?"

Lois rolled her eyes playfully, "We'll be fine—!"

    "I know, but—"

    "We'll remember to call you," she girl told him, gently pushing his shoulder to get him to leave. "Now get lost, or you'll be late to school."

   Scott pursed his lips and looked at them one more time, then nodded in defeat. He smiled that soft McCall smile, and then span on his heel, running out of Beacon Hills preserve and probably home to change his shirt first. They both watched him as he left, making sure he was completely out of sight and wasn't going to convince them that he should stay, then turned to one another.

    "Time to feed the snake."

   Lois stayed in the prison van while Stiles headed into town to get Jackson some sandwiches and some food (they may have been holding him hostage, but they didn't want to starve him, and they were really hungry too) so that he would hopefully be less cranky when they tried to explain why he was there. And by there, they meant locked up in a van and half naked. He wasn't likely to take it well, so they needed at least something on their side.

   She wasn't really looking foreword to explaining to Jackson that he was the kanima. He had always been stubborn, and Lois had a feeling that his anger towards them would start to cloud any ability he had to remotely accept that he was the giant lizard that Derek had been looking for. She also knew that Jackson wouldn't see that Stiles, Lois and Scott locking him up was for his own good and not to put him in harms way. He wouldn't believe that by kidnapping him, they were actually protecting him from being mauled by wolves and hunters, either. Because Jackson didn't understand how many people in Beacon Hills would want to rip him apart when they found out that he was the kanima — if they found out. He wouldn't believe them, and that was because he was ignorant.

   Jackson didn't know how to protect himself in this situation, especially when he didn't even know that he was the kanima.

   So, they had to do it for him.

    Whether he liked it, or not. He didn't get a choice.

   Lois clambered into the van after Stiles, not failing to notice the glare that Jackson sent their way. She reciprocated the expression and smiled tightly, taking a seat on the opposite bench.

"Okay, we brought you some food—"

   Jackson lunged Stiles, making him jump back, "Let me out!"

    "You could be a bit more grateful," Lois remarked, "We got you a sandwich when we could've fed you mice!"

   Stiles nodded, "You know— I put those pants on you, alright, buddy? One leg at a time. Being all up-close and personal with your junk wasn't exactly a highlight of my day." He shuddered at the memory of it, "So, don't think this is fun for me either. We're actually doing you a favour,"

    "This is doing me a favour?" Jackson spat, staring at the duo as though they were insane. Which, really, they were. They had always been a little weird, together.

    "Yes!" Stiles snapped, eyes wide. "You— you're killing people! To death!" When Jackson gave him a disbelieving look, the boy nodded his head vigorously, like it would be valuable to the argument, and happy to tell him that he was very much wrong. It was then that the lacrosse captain started to frow hesitant, unsure if he should believe them or not, and Stiles smirked, "Yeah!"

    "And until we can figure out how to stop you, you're going to stay in here." Lois told him, snatching the sandwiches and reading the labels off as she contemplated lunch. "Now, do you want ham and cheese, or the turkey club?"

   He frowned, "You think my parents won't be looking for me?"

"Not if they don't think anything's wrong." As he spoke, Stiles rooted through his pocket. After a moment of searching, he pulled out Jackson's phone and went onto his messages. He held out the phone, right under Jackson's nose, and wiggled it tauntingly. Iy was slow enough that he could read, "Yeah— that's right."

"I will kill you—!"

Scoffing at his attempt, Lois sheugged and tossed the ham and cheese sandwich at him haphazardly, nearly catching him in the face with it. Jackson glared at her, to which she snickered in much amusement and kicked up her feet, throwing them onto his lip. He pushed them off of him quickly and growled, unwrapping his sandwich slowly and taking an aggressive bite. She moved her feet back but this time, he didn't kick them off, instead opting to send her a permanent, dirty look. He knew it would hardly faze her, but it was worth a shot.

Lois sent him an exaggerated smile and shrugged sarcastically, taking the wrapper off the turkey club and taking a bite out of it. She held it up to Stiles and he did the same thing, both of them leaning back and watching Jackson with smirks as they chewed.

They knew that they could handle Jackson Whittemore. He was under their control, now.

   Scott would have been so proud.

• • •

"Scales? Like a fish?"

"No—" Stiles hummed, "More like a reptile."

    "Your claws have this weird, creepy, liquid that paralyzes people," Lois continued, playing with the end of her hair absently as they informed him of his alter-ego. "Oh— and you have a tail."

   Jackson quirked his eyebrow, "I have a tail...?"

"Yeah, you have a tail." Stiles nodded once, fiddling with the zipper of his jacket.

The pair of losers had been trying to convince Jackson that he was the kanima for a good few hours. They had told him all about the people he had killed, the way that he committed the murders, but he was still yet to budge. Jackson was stubborn, he always had been, but Lois and Stiles were stubborn, too. And they were damn determined to drill it into his rich, jackass head.

"Hm—" the lacrosse captain mocked, crossing his arms the best that he could with handcuffs on, the chains making him jolt when they lost any slack. He leant closer, as if invitingly, and spoke up again, "Does it do anything?"

"No," Lois rolled her eyes. "Not that we know of."

Jackson puckered his lips and stilled, and then shot forward, his hands out like claws, "Can I use it to strangle you?"

"You still don't believe us?" She groaned.

"Am I supposed to?" He snapped, eyes wide with fury. He yanked against his restraints again and Lois jumped back, only an inch, but he noticed. "You scared?"

"Alright—!" Stiles interrupted, hoping to ease the tension.

   He thought for a moment, and then clicked his fingers. Jackson and Lois both watched him closely and waited for what he had to say, the latter hoping that it would be a good idea and not a Stiles idea. Right now, if they wanted him to believe them, they needed a really good idea. Something convincing. Stiles spoke, "The night of the semi-final game, what did you do right after?"

"I went home."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, you idiot. What the hell else would I do?"

"You attacked Stiles and Derek at the school, you trapped them in the pool." Lois quipped with a passive aggressive smile on her lips, "And then you paralysed me, chased me around the school, and I had to spend my night unwillingly with Isaac Lahey."

"You also killed a mechanic— right in front of me, by the way. That was lovely—!" Stiles laughed humourlessly.

    "And one of Argent's hunters," she said.

    "Oh— and last night, you tried to kill Danny."

Jackson didn't believe it. He stared at them judgementally, eyes narrowed into slits, a stare so deep and venomous that it could have been the side of the kanima. "Why would I wanna kill my best friend?"

"You think we know? You're the one doing the killing!" The Lane girl exclaimed, "Scott's trying to figure out, right now."

"Right—" Jackson nodded sarcastically, "Well, maybe, what he should be trying to figure out is how he's going to pay for a lawyer when I prosecute your asses all the way to jail!"

Stiles huffed, "Okay— tell me this: on the night of the first full moon, what happened?"

It was silent for a minute.

   The bone in Jackson's jaw feathered, his teeth grinding together. He avoided any eye contact with the two as he sucked in a violent breath and his body shuddered when he let it out. Lois sent Stiles a curious look but he wasn't looking, far too busy concentrating on the half-lizard, half-lacrosse god who looked ready to explode.

"Nothing." He eventually said, "Nothing happened."

   Stiles rolled his eyes and clambered out of the van, muttering a few words about sending another message and ringing Scott to see what he found out. Lois stuck around, however, crossing her arms and leaning back on the bench. It seemed that Jackson didn't quite notice for a moment, but when he looked back up and caught her eye, he let out a groan and threw his head back dramatically. He just wanted to be left alone.

    "Get out."

   Lois quirked an eyebrow, "This isn't your van."

    "What do you want, Lane?" He asked, "I don't know what you guys are trying to do here, but it's not going to work. I'm not an idiot, y'know— and I'm sure as hell not turning into a lizard that kills people in the night!"

    "You're right, you aren't." She nodded.

   He seemed surprised.

    "You probably kill people in the day, too."

    "Seriously?" Jackson spat.

    "Do I look like I'm joking?" Lois shot back, "Cause I'm not. You're dangerous, Jackson. You can't keep going around killing people— we can't let that happen."

"And what are you going to do? Incase you haven't noticed, Lois, you aren't anything at all. You're not a werewolf, you're not a lizard—" he hissed like one, "—you're human! So, how are you planning on stopping this? Any of this?"

Lois pursed her lips, "I dunno... sheer will power?"

That time, he didn't say anything.

"Look, as much as I hate you for how you treated Lydia, and how you treat everyone...." she sighed, shaking her head once. Lois couldn't believe she was saying this, "...that doesn't mean I want you to die, okay? People are looking for the kanima, bad people, and that means those bad people are looking for you."

Jackson seemed to relax his posture. He let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding, "Why do you care?"

"I'm not sure, yet..." the brunette shrugged, "I guess not liking you is different to letting you die. Don't think I'd be able to live with myself, if I did."

"You've lost someone, haven't you?"

"...and, what if I did?"

When Jackson didn't say a word, he didn't say anything, Lois slipped out of the van with her sneakers hitting the dirt. She sent him one last look before shutting the door, bolting it, and turning on her heel to join Stiles at the front of the truck. It was quiet, and Lois noticed that Luna and Allison had shown up at some point along the lines — probably while she was talking to Jackson, or something — and she pushed herself into the group to join the current conversation.

"They know that he's missing!"

"No, they can't—!" Stiles objected, "I've been texting his parents since last night. They don't have a clue!"

Luna shook her head, "They definitely have a clue."

"My grandfather told me that his parents went to the police, Stiles!" Allison continued, fidgeting around in anticipation. She looked at the phone Stiles held and pursed her lips, "They know."

Lois and Stiles shared a look, mouth agape, both in shock of the situation. It hadn't even crossed their minds that their plan might have gone haywire, not a bump in sight, and now that it seemed that not everything had gone as smoothly as they had wanted, they weren't exactly sure what to do.

Stiles whimpered and dropped the phone, rushing to the front seat of the truck and clicking the radio. He held it to his ear.

"All available units proceed to Beacon Hills Preserve as instructed. Proceed with caution until Sheriff Stilinski's arrival. Proceed with caution."

The boy groaned and rushed the three girls into the van, Lois stopping to pick up Jackson's phone from the dirt. She dialled his fathers number with shaky hands and then tossed it as far as she could throw, hopping in next to Luna.

"Where are we going?" Allison asked, uneasy.

"Somewhere really far away from this."

——

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